Kingwood medical centers continue to expand

Published 2:34 pm, Tuesday, January 15, 2013

A surge of growth in the Lake Houston area in the last two years has led to expansions in local hospitals, including at Kingwood Medical Center and Kelsey-Seybold clinics.

Kingwood Medical Center, 22999 U.S. 59, has begun construction on a $71 million expansion, adding a 155,400 square-foot, three-story women's center. The construction is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2014.

The women's center will provide expanded services and additional rooms for childbirth, including an expanded neonatal intensive care unit.

"Kingwood Medical Center, in partnership with our physicians, continues to take the lead in health care in our communities," said Melinda Stephenson, Kingwood's chief executive officer. "As our communities grow, the need for accessible, quality health care grows as well."

"The newest addition, with our focus on women's health- care needs, will allow us to almost double the number of moms and babies we can take care of," Stephenson said. "This is an exciting time for our physicians and employees, and we look forward to serving our communities."

The medical center has expanded in other areas of the hospital recently, including opening a 6,800-square-foot observation unit last February to accommodate patients who stay less than 24 hours.

During the last two years, Memorial Hermann Northeast has been growing 8 to 10 percent in admissions and outpatients, compared with the national average of 1.5 percent to 2 percent growth, Smith said.

"Some of that is people deciding to stay more local for care and also having to do with the growth of the area as well," Smith said. "Northeast Houston has been growing especially with completion of Beltway 8."

Memorial Hermann Northeast just completed a series of projects to update the 255-bed hospital, including replacing every major piece of equipment from imaging to the operating rooms and refurbishing patient rooms, Smith said.

The number of current full-time employees has increased to 1,120 from 870 three years ago.

"We are not only investing at the main campus, updating our facilities and adding new equipment, but also the investments in the community as well with bricks and motar and services," Smith said.

"We are able to bring the level of quality and services to any of our communities," he said.

"That's the real power of Memorial Hermann - You can get access to the best care and it can be right there in your community and you can rely on Memorial Hermann to do that."